Surfing what most are calling the “perfect wave,” one would expect a flurry of high scores for the entire competition. It wasn’t the case. In fact, a malfunction happened right in the middle of finals day. They had to take back Carissa’s win and had the women surf again. Carissa won once more, beating six-time World Champion Stephanie Gilmore and proving that the Surf Ranch title was truly hers to begin with.

“I’m ecstatic to walk away with a win at the Surf Ranch Pro,” she said in an interview. “And this facility is such a new thing, so it’s such an honor to be a part of. It’s been a crazy year so far and we have two more events, and I’m just super stoked. My biggest goal is just to finish the year off strong and re-qualify because I’m not in the Title race. I just want to have a strong performance and gain some confidence hopefully for next year.”

Coming from a win in Teahupo’o, Gabe’s Surf Ranch win is his second this year. And it didn’t come easy as he had to take down Filipe Toledo, surfing’s aerial wiz and current World No.1, to get it. Posting a 9.80 for his triple-air, and doing a couple of air reverse and alley-oops, you’d think Filipe had it in the bag. But the 2014 World Champion pulled out all the stops and even managed to land his Kerrupt Flip perfectly backing up his 8.73 with a 9.13, sealing his win.

Though both finished in second place, Steph and Filipe hold on to their lead and will don the yellow jersey in France.

The Top 5 (men and women) post-Surf Ranch Pro

“It’s nice to hold onto the lead,” said Steph. “Lakey is fighting super hard. She’s a tough competitor, all of them are. But, now we’ll head to France and see what happens there.”

And when asked about his 9.80 ride, which many believe should have been a 10, Filipe only has this to say: “They want more? I’ll give them more.”